I hope you got that I was attempting an admittedly robust leg-pull, not having a sly dig.  :)

I think you make some great points here.

The fact is that many legacy publishers spent so long worrying about what to do about print that they missed the boat when it came to online. As you say, the winning formula isn’t hard to work out. The freemium model works if you have a good product and you can prove it. Have the confidence to do this, without paywalls, and you will quickly build up an audience that will be happy to pay for other ‘things’ because they have respect and buy-in for the brand.

Another point which I haven’t mentioned above is the ‘global’ aspect of what Econsultancy has done during the last few years. This potentially gives Centaur a good opportunity to extend its reach overseas although, again, that is much easier said than done.

I can’t help but wonder how anyone who was put out to grass by Centaur when it closed Reputation Online, took NMA online only etc, must be feeling about this.  Not just the journalists involved, but the marketing, sales, admin and management staff that were caught up.  Here we are, not really that long after the event, witnessing Centaur shedding millions for Econsultancy.

I’m quite sure some people might conclude Centaur didn’t really know what it was doing, hasn’t got a clear strategy in place yet and is reacting to market events rather than charting its own course. 

This will be one to watch.  I used to work for VNU Business Publications on Broadwick Street.  That was a company that tied itself in terrible knots trying to reconcile online and print, and by and large it never really pulled it off convincingly.  I wonder if we are seeing Centaur dancing to a similar tune.

Making money from an online only model oughtn’t be particularly difficult.  After VNU, I ended up as managing editor (news) – yes, that was the job title – for a couple of years.  There’s a business that’s done incredibly well.

Finally, Danny, I’ve got a lot of professional respect for you. But you can’t really expect to be an unbiased source on this, regardless of your up-front disclosure.  :)